We live in uncertain times. Economic, social and technological changes are carrying us forward at an astonishing speed. Through all these changes, families are a source of strength and continuity. Families care most about the things that affect their daily lives: jobs, wages, mortgages, taxes, their children’s education, medical care, safe streets, a secure retirement. The Liberal government shares these concerns, and is working in all these areas to improve the lives of Canadian families.

The economic security of Canadian families depends on a strong economy that creates jobs. Since the Liberal government took office, the unemployment rate has dropped two points, with the creation of 624,000 new jobs. Canadians are not alone in having to deal with the problems of economic globalization and an accelerated rate of technological change, but Canada is doing a better job of meeting these challenges than other developed economies. The Canadian economy has created more jobs since this government took office than France and Germany combined.

The Liberal government is helping to rebuild international confidence in the Canadian economy by setting firm, realistic deficit-reduction targets, and meeting them. Deficit reduction helps keep interest rates down, which is one of the most important things government can do to stimulate job creation. Interest rates have declined three percentage points in the last year, which translates into $2,400 a year in savings on a $100,000 mortgage.

The good news for Canadian families is that the deficit is being reduced by getting government right and reducing spending, rather than raising taxes. Personal income tax rates have not increased in any of the three Liberal Budgets. Instead, the tax system is being used to put money back into the hands of families raising children. The Liberal government will double the Working Income Supplement for low-income working families to $1,000 by July 1998, increasing assistance by $250 million a year to 700,000 Canadian families.

Jobs, especially for young people, remain our most pressing concern. Over the next three years, we’ll be investing $1.2 billion in youth employment programs. To increase access to higher education, new measures will put $165 million back into the pockets of students and their families over three years. They include broadened child-care expense deductions, a higher education expense deduction, and higher annual limits on contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans.

Canadian families rely on valued social programs, such as public pensions. A single, tax-free Seniors Benefit will replace current benefits for seniors beginning in 2001. Most future seniors, including nine out of ten single senior women, will be better off under the new system. To ensure that our health care system and other social programs remain effective and financially sustainable, the 1996 Budget introduced a five-year funding arrangement for the Canada Health and Social Transfer, including a cash component high enough to ensure compliance with national principles.

Security from crime and violence is of deep concern to Canadian families. The Liberal government’s work to keep Canada’s homes and streets safe includes sentencing reform, rules for the use of DNA evidence, national screening of child sexual abusers, a tightened Young Offenders Act, and gun control.